12(\ AMERICAN GAME FISHES. 



feels the hook he immediately comes to the surface. If he 

 has not thoroughly swallowed the bait, he will eject it. If 

 he does not swallow it, a strike will accomplish nothing, for 

 the inside of the Tarpon's mouth is gristly and tough. It is 

 only in rare instances that Tarpon have been caught when 

 hooked in the mouth. Their tongue is hard, and its surface 

 closely resembles a whetstone. It is long, being shaped like 

 a calf's tongue, and with it they can eject, easily, anything 

 within reach. This power with the tongue is one of the most 

 astonishing characteristics of the Tarpon. When the bait is 

 well swallowed, a "strike" is unnecessary, for the movements 

 of the fish and the tension used when the fish is beneath the 

 water will fasten the hook well in him. A "strike" would also 

 prove disastrous if made, as it is likely to be, at the moment 

 the Tarpon jumps from you. 



Lunch-hour came and passed without incident, save the 

 occasional replenishing of bait. The sun had crossed the 

 meridian and started upon its western descent, and the flood- 

 tide had reached the turn, ere Tarpon number two made his 

 appearance. When I next reached for my pole, which I had 

 rested upon the side of the boat, my attention being attracted 

 by the whiz! whiz! of my reel, I took the precaution to 

 look at my watch. It was just five minutes past one o'clock. 

 My line ran out rapidly, but with that steady movement so 

 characteristic of the Tarpon, and which so readily distin- 

 guishes him from a Shark, which runs like a frightened deer. 

 Seventy-five a hundred feet have disappeared! The excite- 

 ment of the moment is pictured in the darky's eyes, whose 

 whites appear to grow with the moments. 



"Whe w! he's a regulah whale," ejaculates Ben, as my 

 Tarpon breaks through the water, disclosing his immense pro- 

 portions in a mighty leap of ten feet aloft. Another! another! 

 thrice more, and all in as many minutes, does Mr. Tarpon 

 wend his way heavenward. A large fish he is, too, and a 

 magnificent spectacle. In the meantime Ben has pulled in 



